


who's playing who?

by vuccijl



Series: how to get from here to there [4]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-29 14:04:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21411400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vuccijl/pseuds/vuccijl
Summary: Beth has an unexpected visitor at Rio's apartment.
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Series: how to get from here to there [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1530794
Comments: 13
Kudos: 369





	who's playing who?

Beth swings open the front door to Rio's loft to find a young women on the other side of the door. She's beautiful with long dark hair and piercing eyes - maybe about Annie's age. Her skin is tanned and she's about Beth's height. The two women stand, staring, both surprised to see the other. Beth assumes whoever this is had expected to find Rio in her spot and Beth - well - Beth's not sure who she had expected.

"Hi." Beth says, breaking the silence first.

The women in front of her peaks over Beth's shoulder before forcing a polite smile. "Hi."

Neither speaks, both waiting for the other to say something - _anything_. Beth feels a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach but she can't pinpoint why.

"I'm sorry - who are you?" The stranger asks and Beth narrows her eyes.

"Who are _you_?"

They're both quiet again, neither willing to be the first to give in. It's another ten seconds that feels like minutes before Beth relents, her hand gripping at the door handle.

"I'm Beth." She finally says, her voice sickeningly sweet. 

It's hard though, to stay patient, when the women facing her looks so _suspicious _and so confused and so _rude. _"Where's Christopher?"

It catches Beth off guard, the use of Rio's full name. She's not sure she'll ever get used to it.

"He went to drop Marcus at his mother's and to pick up dinner."

"What do _you _know about Marcus?" she asks, her eyes narrowed, her voice snide, catching Beth off guard.

"I - wha- excuse me?" Beth finally gets out, tripping over her words. She feels guilty but she doesn't know why. She hasn't done anything wrong even though this perfect stranger is making her feel like she has. 

"How do you know my brother?"

Beth's eyes widened but the knot in her stomach unravels - it's all starting to make sense now.

"Your _brother_?"

The stranger - although, not so much anymore - lets out a soft sigh and holds her arm out. "I'm Lena."

_Lena._ Beth repeats in her head. She reaches out and takes the outstretched hand in front of her and shakes it but she’s mostly on auto pilot. _Rio has a sister. _And now that she thinks about it she remembers that she knew this already. She had heard him make brief mention of her and his mother, any maybe a few others, but really, for the most part, his family was something they hadn't done much talking about it. _Why? _She asks herself. _Why haven't they talked more about his family? _

"Beth." She says robotically even though it's already been covered.

Lena gives a soft smile. Beth doesn't know for certain but she seems apologetic about her earlier inquisition. It's obvious to anyone that Beth is completely thrown off guard.

"You mentioned that but I still don't know who you are." Her tone is softer, less accusatory but still all business and it reminds Beth a lot of Rio. 

And then it hits Beth. All at once like a swift punch to the face. Rio's sister doesn’t know who she is. Has obviously never even heard her name. Unless -

"Elizabeth." She says, slowly, pointing her finger at her chest as if the use of her full name might jog some sort of memory.

But Lena's eyes stay glazed over in confusion and question, not recognition.

_Rio has never mentioned Beth to his sister._

"I'm Rio's -"

But before she can finish, he‘s there, turning the corner into the building's hallway. He stops dead in his tracks, surprised to find his door open and the two women opposite each other - one inside, one just out. His mouth opens as if to say something but he closes it just as quickly when he notices the looks he's getting. First, on his sister's face and then - he glances over at Beth, he sees the mix of emotions radiating off of her and he lets out a soft groan. Beth notices his jaw clench and she expects him to say something but he doesn't.

He moves forward, pushing past his sister and than Beth to enter his apartment. Lena takes this as an invitation to enter and Beth has to step aside to let her do so. Beth sighs quietly but closes the door.

At the same time, Rio places the bag of food in his arms on the counter in the kitchen and removes his coat, draping it over the chair at the island. He’s slow in his actions and Beth wants to yell at him to say _something_. After an eternity, or what seems like it, at least, he turns to face his audience. Lena is standing with her arms crossed over her chest, patiently waiting for her brother to acknowledge her. Beth assumes she must be used to this, to him.

"Whatchu doin' here, Le?" He says, his tone rough but Lena takes it in stride.

She shrugs, as if she has anticipated his inquiry. 

"I'm meeting Joe for dinner up the street but had a few minutes to kill so I thought I'd come say hi." She looks over in Beth's directions and motions her hand. 

"Beth was just about to tell me who she is."

"Sounds like she introduced herself if you know her name." Rio says, leaning back against the counter behind him. Lena raises her eyebrows, waiting for him to elaborate, but when he just stands there she let's out a frustrated groan.

"Chris, seriously? You have a girlfriend?"

"Yup." 

"One you're clearly comfortable enough to leave alone in your apartment and let meet Marcus."

He ignores his sister's comment and chooses, instead, to empty his pockets of his cell phone and keys. Beth wills him to look over at her so that she can hit him with her most intense glare but he's avoiding her at all costs.

"When were you planning on mentioning it?" Lena asks, her voice suddenly high but before he can answer she's tossing another question out there. "How long has it been?"

Finally, he looks over at Beth, his top lip curling up in amusement. He finds the situation funny and Beth thinks he's looking to her for support but she wants to do serious damage. She bites on her lip to keep herself from going off on him and she knows that he notices. He opens his mouth to respond but Beth has had enough - is more annoyed than probably necessary at this point but she can't stop herself from answering Lena before he can.

"Long enough that I assumed he would've at least mentioned me in passing."

Lena gives Beth a look, a cross between sympathy and understanding and a little bit of pity - this is her brother after all and it seems like, at least to Beth, that Lena's just as equally annoyed. Without words she conveys to Beth that she _gets it _and it makes Beth feel slightly better. At least she's not the only one that Rio seems unable to properly communicate with.

Lena looks directly at her brother and pins him with a stare. "I'd say sorry for showing up unannounced but obviously I'm not."

"Obviously." Rio shoots back, sarcastically.

The three are left standing in silence. Rio is clearly not offering up any other information to his sister and Beth is quietly simmering, preparing for an inevitable argument with her boyfriend.

Lena can see this - can see she's getting nothing and nowhere. She rolls her eyes and turns to Beth.

"It was nice to meet you."

Later, Beth will regret not saying more, not putting on her brightest smile and happiest face so as to impress Rio's sister but she's too mad, too disappointed, to do anything but force a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes and whisper a quiet, "you too."

Lena walks to the door but turns before she can leave. "You're an idiot. And I'm going to tell mom."

"Yeah, I figured, Le." Rio said pushing off the counter to take a few steps towards her. 

"Does Danielle know?" She asks and Beth, at least, knows that Danielle is Marcus' mom.

"If she does it ain't because I told her." Rio says simply. Beth assumes he means that it's possible Marcus had mentioned something.

Lena looks like she wants to say more but she's either smart or just saving it for another time. She gives one final smile in Beth's direction and then she's gone, leaving Beth and Rio standing feet apart that feel like miles.

She can't bring herself to look at him and she refuses to be the first one to say something. He should apologize, should grovel, but she knows he won't.

"Whatever you're thinking, just stop." He says quietly, shoving his hands into the hood of his sweatshirt. 

"I'm thinking that I hate your guts." Beth says, voice quivering from anger. 

She's not sure she's ever been this mad at him but it's more than that - she's _hurt_. She's not even sure she has a right to be which makes it even worse. He doesn't have to tell anyone about them, she supposes, but it's his _family _and she's his _girlfriend _and she knows this is Rio. She knows he's not exactly an open book but knowing that doesn't change how she feels.

"It hasn't come up." He starts but she waves him off. She can tell he's about to write this off as nothing but not on her watch.

"Don't lie to me." Beth says sternly, crossing her arms over her chest attempting to let Rio know that she means business. She knows better than to think he'll actually cower under her death stare but she attempts one anyway.

He meets her gaze dead on and leans a hip against the couch next to him. "I ain't lyin'."

She drops her arms and bites the inside of her cheek. She looks into his eyes attempting to get a read on him but when his face shows no sign of giving in to her she relents. "I thought - I hoped - "

She's trying to figure out what she wants to say - wishes she didn't constantly find herself unable to properly voice her thoughts when she's around him. She's waiting for the pull he has over her to lessen but so far it's not showing any signs of letting up.

He raises his eyebrow as if to encourage her on and she sighs. 

"I thought we were on the same page."

"We are."

She hits him with a look that can only be described as disappointed. If she was the type to pout, the type to whine, to nag, she would right now but instead she asks him simply:

"Then why haven't you told anybody about me? About us."

He shrugs, as Rio does, and answers. "Nobody else's business."

She almost says the words along with him because she had known he would say something along those lines. Instead, she tries something else to get her point across.

"You've got a pretty close relationship with your family, right?"

He narrows his eyes at her attempting to figure out her game but hesitantly answers. "Right."

She nods anticipating his answer and follows up with another question. "And Marcus is sort of important to you?"

Her question is mostly rhetorical - she knows the answer - but she's making a point so he smirks and plays along. "Yeah. Sort of."

"And what about me?"

"What about you?"

She shrugs but lowers her eyes to where her fingers nervously play with the zipper on her sweatshirt. She replies as if she's stating a fact but the slight waver in her voice makes it sound more like a question. "We're _pretty _close. I'm _sort of_ important."

"Mmm." He agrees but doesn't give her anything more. 

"So try to help me understand why you're hiding us like it's some dirty secret. I thought we were past that."

"Pretty sure you haven't told Dean." He shoots back instead of giving her the answer she's looking for.

Beth lets out a breath, annoyed. "That's different."

Rio frowns and scratches at his chin in thought. This conversation has the ability to go several different ways - it's already taken turns Beth hadn't intended - and now she's sure that Rio is contemplating how he can challenge her even more. 

"You mad I haven't told Danielle. He's _your_ kid's dad. Don't sound different to me."

She looks at him in disbelief. She can't believe she has to spell this out for him. She assumes he's being purposely obtuse - Rio is a lot of things but stupid isn't one of them. When he doesn't budge she throws her hands up in the air and practically shouts.

"I didn't attempt to _kill _Marcus' mother."

Most people would at least look slightly remorseful but Rio just chuckles, eyes twinkling. "If I wanted to kill him I woulda killed him.

"Rio." Beth says seriously, desperate for something genuine. 

And he does get it - does read her tone correctly - and instead of putting a halt to the conversation he attempts to give her what she's looking for. 

"My family been tryin' to marry me off since they realized me and Danielle weren't gonna be together. I ain't gonna introduce them to no one until I know for sure it's something worth dealin' with."

"What more do I have to do to prove I'm worth "dealing with"?" She asks, confused. She knows that they're exploring uncharted territory - knows their relationship as it stands is new and vulnerable but she at least thought it was long term.

He shakes his head, frustrated, as if she isn't grasping what he's trying to say. "Nothin'. I'm just makin' sure this is really what you want."

She must look like a fish out of water because her mouth opens and closes in desperation. She's clueless, confused, she hears the words coming from his mouth, gets the meaning behind them, but can't quite grasp how it all ties together_._

"I'm not going to go back to Dean." She says, because even though she thought the fact was obvious maybe it wasn't? Maybe Rio, as confident and cocky and self-assured as he is, still has nagging doubts about how serious she is about leaving behind her ex.

He laughs, though, and shoots her theory down. "Yeah, I'm not worried about that."

Beth lifts her hand and points her index finger into her chest. "I was the one that wanted us to be more serious."

He doesn't comment, just waits.

"_I _practically forced you to let me spend time with Marcus." She says, emphasizing the first word.

"No one forces me to do anything, sweetheart." He answers, his tone light.

"_I_ invited you over for dinner and didn't tell you that my kids would be there. I shoved them in your face and didn't give you any choice but to hang out with them."

He lowers his head and smiles before looking back at her. His eyes are practically glowing and his wide smile momentarily takes her breath away. It's still new to her. Being on the receiving end of his _happiness._

"You think I didn't know they'd be there?"

She almost smiles back, remembering the day two weeks ago when she'd invited him to have dinner with her but neglected to mention her entire crew would also be in attendance. She'd been attempting to get them all together and it hadn't worked out. She had figured Rio was avoiding the inevitable but he'd taken the night in stride as he tended to do.

"So what?" She asks, giving up. "Really this whole time I thought I was the one moving this relationship along but you were, what? Just humoring me?"

"Somethin' like that."

A thought pops into her head and she looks at him suspiciously. "Were you waiting for me to _ask _to meet your family?"

A small smirk pulls at his mouth and he chuckles at her expression. 

"Figured it would've happened eventually."

She can feel the annoyance leave her body but she's not entirely ready to let him off the hook.

"It hurt my feelings." She says quietly, not used to feeling this way when it comes to him. "When she heard my name and had no idea who I was."

He drops his hands from his pockets and moves closer to her so that they're standing toe to toe. He reaches forward and grips the sides of her sweater, pulling her closer to him. She contemplates fighting him but even when she feels like this she still wants to be touching him.

"What can I do to make you feel better, hm?" He asks, and she can see what he's offering, can tell that his tone is suggestive and light and she'll take him up on that later but for now -

"I want to have your whole family over for dinner." She says determinedly.

He cringes and looks ready to argue but she covers his mouth before he can speak.

"Your mom and your sister and Joe - wait, who's Joe?" She asks, tilting her head in question.

He pushes her hand from off of his mouth to answer. "Lena's husband."

She nods as if that was what she'd expected and continues. "And Marcus. And my kids. Does Lena have kids?"

"Two." He replies, amused.

She nods and he can see that she's already planning the day, the menu, the activities for the children. Rio opens his mouth but she cuts him off once more.

"And Annie and Sadie and Ruby and her family."

He clenches his jaw and shakes his head. "You're pushin' it, ma."

She frowns and makes sure he's looking at her before she repeats her earlier words. "You hurt my feelings."

He sighs and she can tell when he relents, can tell when he's given in to fighting her. Can tell that his acceptance is his own version of an apology.

He reaches his hand up to cup the back of her neck and squeezes, winding his fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck. Her eyes dip down to where he licks his lips and before she can stop him his mouth is on hers.

His lips coax hers apart and he sucks gently at her bottom lip, eliciting a whimper from Beth. She sucks in a breath when he pulls away for a split second but then he's back, at a new angle, sliding his tongue into her mouth and things go from slow to heated in no time at all.

She should be used to it by now.

She pushes up on her toes and wraps her arms around his middle. He works his hand under the hem of her shirt just enough to touch the sliver of skin on her back above the waistband of her jeans. As touches go, it's innocent enough, especially as _their _touches go, but something about it makes the heat in Beth's stomach flare. Maybe it's the fact that only minutes ago she'd been so angry at him, maybe it's the fact that every time she sees him these days it seems like their relationship is constantly moving in new directions, to new levels.

Of course, maybe it's just the fact that it's _him_.

She pulls away before things get out of hand and cups either side of his face with her hands. She holds his head still so that he's forced to meet her gaze before she speaks.

"This is really what I want." She says, referring to his comment earlier that indicated she might not be all in.

His eyes darken and for once, fleetingly, Beth can see everything he's thinking and feeling across his face. 

He squeezes her hips and presses a kiss to her forehead.

"Can we eat now?" He says, nodding towards the food he'd placed on the counter earlier. She laughs but agrees and whether he likes it or not (she thinks he was hoping she had forgotten) she spends the majority of their dinner planning her upcoming dinner party.


End file.
